"
Franklin wrote a description of the Montgolfier balloon to Sir
Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society of London:
"Its bottom was open and in the middle of the opening was fixed a
kind of basket grate, in which faggots and sheaves of straw were
burnt. The air, rarefied in passing through this flame, rose in
the balloon, swelled out its sides, and filled it. The persons,
who were placed in the gallery made of wicker and attached to the
outside near the bottom, had each of them a port through which
they could pass sheaves of straw into the grate to keep up the
flame and thereby keep the balloon full . . . . One of these
courageous philosophers, the Marquis d'Arlandes, did me the honor
to call upon me in the evening after the experiment, with Mr.
Montgolfier, the very ingenious inventor. I was happy to see him
safe. He informed me that they lit gently, without the least
shock, and the balloon was very little damaged."
Franklin writes that the competition between Montgolfier and
Charles has already resulted in progress in the construction and
management of the balloon. He sees it as a discovery of great
importance, one that "may possibly give a new turn to human
affairs. Convincing sovereigns of the folly of war may perhaps be
one effect of it, since it will be impracticable for the most
potent of them to guard his dominions.
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